Journey along with the Catholic Courier during the penitential season of Lent. Below you’ll find helpful materials — including Scripture, reflections, background information and more.
New resources will be added here each day.
Also, on the Catholic Courier‘s social media platforms, we will be posting a quick, one-minute daily video related about Lent. Follow Catholic Courier on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to see those daily videos. Some of those videos will be posted below.
Start of Lent
The start of our Lenten journey. All parishes in the Diocese of Rochester are having special Masses or services to mark the start of Lent. Click on the button below for times:
Sunday Readings/Gospel
Click on the plus sign for reflections on the readings and Gospel for the week.
Books for Lent
Click on the plus sign for suggestions of some books and others resources for your Lenten journey.
Fish Fry Locations & Meatless Dishes
Click on the plus sign for locations of fish fry dinners through the diocese and for recipes for some meatless dishes.
Prayer during Lent
Prayer is one of the three pillars of Lent. During this season, we are called to set aside more time for prayer so that we can draw closer to God and to one another.
Why Do Catholics?
Click on the plus sign for Lenten-related stories in Catholic Courier‘s Why Do Catholics…? series, which aims to answers questions about what Catholic do and believe.
Questions about Lent
Have questions about Lent? You can find answers by clicking on the plus sign.
Reflections/Articles
With ‘The Journey’ Bocelli gives us a Holy Week treat
Many in Rochester Diocese prepare to join Catholic Church
‘Annunciation’: Salvation and the words of the air
Why it is good and necessary to take pajama days
Lenten spiritual advice found in Aldi ‘aisle of shame’
Pope: Lent is a time to let go of the frivolous, to choose love
Click on the plus sign for reflections for Lent.
Penance
Catholics are encouraged to experience God’s love and mercy by receiving the sacrament of reconciliation during Lent. Below are lists of regularly scheduled opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The lists include additional times during Lent.
Pray40 Challenge
Almsgiving
During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on almsgiving. Almsgiving means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity.
Via Dolorosa
The Via Dolorosa is a processional route in the Jerusalem that represents the path that Jesus took on his way to crucifixion and death. Photos from Catholic Courier wedding blogger Leonor, and her late husband, Ed Rivera. The Riveras went to the Holy Land in 2019.
Fasting & Abstinence
Fasting is one of the three pillars of lent. For Catholics, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence from meat. The Fridays of Lent are also obligatory days of abstinence.
Holy Week | Palm Sunday
Holy Week, the week before Easter, begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. Holy Week is is the most sacred week in the church’s liturgical year.
Palm Sunday is April 2.
Holy Week | Chrism Mass
The Solemn Mass of Chrism, which will be celebrated April 4, brings together all parts of the Rochester Diocese for one night.
The Mass is a 6 p.m. at Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Sacred Triduum | Holy Thursday
The liturgy for Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, during which Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Holy Thursday also marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the sacred Triduum, a three-day period of liturgical observances that run through evening prayer on Easter Sunday.
Before beginning the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of his apostles, an act that is commemorated at Holy Thursday Masses by priests washing the feet of worshippers.’
Following the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Blessed Sacrament is placed on the church’s Altar of Repose for adoration. It is traditional for members of the faithful to spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament into the night on Holy Thursday.
Sacred Triduum | Good Friday
Good Friday is the commemoration of Jesus’s crucifixion and death, and the most solemn day of the Christian year.
It is the only day of the year when Mass is not celebrated, but Passion of the Lord services are held. It is also a common day for praying the Stations of the Cross as well.
Sacred Triduum | Easter Vigil
The Triduum reaches its high point on Holy Saturday, with the Easter Vigil, which is held at night. It does not begin before
nightfall and should end before daybreak on Easter Sunday. There are four parts to the Easter Vigil — The Service of Light,
Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of Baptism and Liturgy of the Eucharist.
